[Futurework] Cup of tea, anyone?

[Keith Hudson]

For any FWer who does not think that anything printed by The Independent or broadcast by the BBC is a poisoned chalice, the following item as to the corruption and chaos in Iraq might be of interest.

To those who think that the Americans and Brits cannot now leave Iraq because it would produce chaos and bloodshed, it has to be suggested that there is chaos and boodshed already and that chaos and boodshed will contintue so long as American troops remain and so long as an attempt is made to write a Constitution between three distinct ethnic groups of which the Sunnis hate the Shias and the Kurds even more than they hate Christians or Jews.

Incidentally, the writer of the following article, Patrick Cockburn, has nowhere near the same experience as Robert Frist who usually writes 'biased' accounts of Iraq for The Independent -- despite his 30 years living in the Middle East, speaking Arabic fluently and knowing almost all the Arabic and Islamic political leaders in his lifetime. Patrick Coburn is a mere upstart having lived in Iraq for only a few years, and a member of an upper middle-class family in England only a little lower than the aristocracy. So he's got to be 'biased', too, isn't he?

(One of the affectations of the British upper middle class and aristocracy is to have names that are pronounced in strange ways. 'Cholmondley' for example is pronounced 'Chumley' and [Lord] 'Home' is pronounced "Hume".  It pleases them no end and it's one of the ways of showing their superiority to ordinary people who get confused when trying to address such eminences. So if you mention Patrick Cockburn to anyone, pronounce his name as Ko-burn -- then your hearers will know that you were brought up properly.)

I am still waiting an apology but, even more so, it would be gentlemanly if The Independent and the BBC were acknowledged as the only two media institutions in this country (with the exception of The Guardian and the Financial Times) which have reported extensively from Iraq with seasoned reporters and which, generally, since they have written of reality only, have kept to a reasonably consistent editorial thread, not twisting and turning all over the place as other newspapers have done in both England and America.

Blair dragged the BBC into the mud (not through the mud) when it tried to be even more courageous than usual over the suicide of Dr Kelly. The BBC have just about managed to survive and have retained its objectivity. It is now up to Blair to get himself out of the mud that he threw himself into when he supported Bush's inept escapade.

Keith Hudson

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CORRUPTION THREATENS TO LEAVE IRAQ WITH A 'GHOST ARMY'

Patrick Cockburn

A tidal wave of corruption may ensure the Iraqi army and police will be too few and too poorly armed to replace American and British forces fighting anti-government insurgents. That could frustrate plans in Washington and London to reduce their forces in Iraq.

The Iraqi armed forces are full of "ghost battalions" in which officers pocket the pay of soldiers who never existed or have gone home. "I know of at least one unit which was meant to be 2,200 but the real figure was only 300 men," said a veteran Iraqi politician and member of parliament, Mahmoud Othman. "The US talks about 150,000 Iraqis in the security forces but I doubt if there are more than 40,000".

The army and police are poorly armed despite heavy expenditure. "The interim government spent $5.2bn (£2.6bn) on the ministry of defence and ministry of the interior during six months but there is little to show for it," said a senior Iraqi official who did not want his name published.

He cited the case of more than $300m spent on buying 24 military helicopters and other equipment from Poland. When Iraqi experts examined the helicopters they found them to be 28 years old -- and their manufacturer recommended that they be scrapped after 25 years. Iraq is now trying to get its money back.

The corruption started under the US-run Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003 when Iraqis, often with little experience, were appointed to senior positions in ministries. The Iraqis did not act alone. "The Americans were the partners of the Iraqis in all this
corruption," says Dr Othman.

The results of the failure to buy effective arms are visible at every Iraqi police or army checkpoint. The weapons on display are often ageing Kalashnikovs. The supposedly elite police commandos drive about in elderly pick-ups with no armour. The ministry of the interior was recently unable to provide a presidential guard with 50 pistols.As a result of the lack of weapons, the Iraqi police and army are often less well-armed than the insurgents.

Iraqi soldiers have often turned out to be pathetically vulnerable to guerrilla attacks. "During the past two years, people could make money in Iraq on a scale that would astonish a Colombian drug lord," said an Iraqi politician who, like many, wanted to remain anonymous. "To protect the amounts of money they made, these people will kill very easily."

Meanwhile, the new Defence Minister, Saadoun al-Dulaimi, complains he inherited so little infrastructure that he has to bring in tea bags to his office so he can offer tea to visitors.

The Iraqi government hoped it would be able to obtain weapons free from the US but that has turned out to be a frustrating process. An official said: "The Americans don't trust our  soldiers or policemen. They say the arms might fall into the hands of insurgents. But I tell them the insurgents already have these kind of weapons so why should they want some more?"

The Independent -- 15 July 2005
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